The Girls Varsity Basketball team took on the Mehlville Panthers last Friday at EHS.

The Wildcats dominated for most of the game, hanging on to the win late, 61-59.

“It was a really good game for us,” Maddi Taggart, forward, said. “It was probably our best game of the year.”

The first quarter was quite a show as they wildcats put up 15 points, to Melville’s nine.

Players Lexi Roellig, guard, and Taggart had many shooting lanes, resulting in a number of points in the first quarter.

Poor defensive play, on behalf of Mehlville, resulted in many fouls, sending Wildcat players to the line all quarter.

The scoring continued for the Wildcats well  into the second quarter and so did Melville’s fouling.

“We had better teamwork than usual,” Makayla Jackson, forward, said. “Which is big for us because we’re such a young team”

At the half the Wildcats led by 11, 32-21.

Midway through the third quarter Nadia Farmer, forward, drained a huge three-pointer, adding to the team’s lead and  the Wildcats were up, 41-31.

The Wildcats furthered their lead throughout the rest of the third-quarter and on into the fourth, holding Mehlville at an 11-point deficit.

Mehlville, however, in the final five-minutes rallied and were able to dig themselves out of the hole they had been in all night.

Mehlville erased a ten-point lead in about five-minutes, cutting the Wildcats lead to just one basket.

With the game coming to a close it was a back-and-fourth race up and down the court for both teams, as the Wildcats tried to defend their two-point lead and Mehlville just needing one shot to fall.

But in the end the Wildcat girls were able to hold on and win 61-59.

“Everything just kind of fell into place, Jackson, said. “And we were able to get the win.”

The Wildcats next game will be on the road against Seckman, Feb. 10.